Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-04-15
Human Voices Boxed UP.


have some startling news for short
hand writer's, writes the Washington
correspondent of the Cleveland Leader.
1t is concerning a wonderful little in
strument called the graphophone,
which its overs claim will entirely do
away with stenographers and steno-
graphic work. A practical test has
been made of its reporting at n mechan-
zeal laboratory here and it has been
found successful. 1t is the invention
of Mr.. Sumner Tainton. Professor
Alexander Graham Bell. the inventor
of the Bell telephone, and DIR. Chiches-
ter A. Bell, an eminent chemist. The
machine is operated on the principle OF
the photograph. 1t is very SIMPLE and
free from mechanical complication. IL
has a treadle and looks very much like
a small sewing machine.
Edison discovered the art of record
ing and reproducing sound. but the in
vention could not be used because Of It's
clumsy mechanical arrangement,
coupled with very inferior and unsatis-
factory methods of recording the
sounds produced. lie used a piece of
tin foil upon which the sound waves
were indented and from WIN cn they
were easily oblterated.
The present inventor, Mr. Taintor.
saw that less destructive material
Il. Ia la
experiment tried 2 preparation of wax
and paraiine. This is the surface now
used, and it works perfectly. IL then
made an entirely new apparatus, and the
result is the graphophone. machine
which VII sing song. report whistle.
or give the quality and infections OF the
voce in a most charming way. The
small point which is attached TO the
diaphragm of the machine cuts a IN mute
hair line i'm the wax surface. This line
is so faint that ii is scarcely percepti-
Die 10 the naked eye, yet it serves to
give a reproduction, 80 as TO be dis
tinctly heard by the listener. of a song,
laugh. or ordinar, speech.
\ fine test was lately made of the
powers of this machine. Two gentle
men. one acting a. lawyer and the
other Is witness, utilized the graphic
phone for taking testimony, These
gentlemen spoke in ordinary tones
in the machine, one asking n question
and the O,hcr answering il. 4 dozen
/ questions and answers were givin.
/ Then a lady who had not heard what
either party had said, came into the
room and took testimony from the
graphophone and wrote it out. The
experiment was complet' success.
and no errors were made. Among the
gentlemen mentioned above a being
present are some of the leading >teno-
graphers of the country. These men
were enthusiastic over the result.
/ They said:
1--WE can use the machines and do
away with amanuenses, and these
machines mean revolution in aman-
uensis work. A man can employ at
$40 a month a young man or woman
and. by the aid of a graphophone,
have all the benefits of the very best
stenographer. 4 stenographer would
/ have cost him from 81, POO TO -, 900 Il
! year. and this machine Will take down
/ his words more accurately, and in such
a way that the record can be repro
duccd from 400 to 500 times without
injuring the original
This machine will be Of great adj
vantage to the newspaper correspon-
dents. and especially to such CORE
spondents as can dictate their letters.
/ When it is purchasablc the CORE
spondent can talk his letter into the
machine and can take it out printed
on little hollow wax cylinder. This
he can send to his office in a pill-box
through the mails for the expense of a
two-cent postage stamp. and in the
office it can be ground into the prin-
ter's ears. If he wishes TO revise his
matter he can have it copied out on
the typewriter, and as to reporting
the speeches in full he will have no
trouble whatsoever.
To the bashful lover the graphophne
will prove bonanza. He can sit in
the quiteness of his own room and ex-
press in extensive vocabular his admir-
alton, and close his affcctionate address
with love song. The next morning
his sweetheart w Il receive his petition
through the morning mails, will place
it upon her graphophone and listen en-
raptured to the voice of her lover.
For bus ness purposes, the value of
this machine will be very great. 1t will
bring friends nearer TO each other. and
it will be of such a character that a con-
tract made through it. can never be re-
pudiated. You cannot counterfeit the
human voice.
The machine is said to be now per-
| foot and IN vll ,,rohaLIc ha ON tho